Millionaire Ranks Grow 16% to 7.8 Million

America’s millionaires are bouncing back. The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including their primary residence, grew 16% to 7.8 million in 2009, up from 6.7 million the year before, Spectrem Group’s “Affluent Market Insights 2010” report shows. In 2008, the millionaire population declined 27%.

Similarly, the number of ultra-high-net-worth households, that is, pentamillionaires with a net worth of $5 million or more, advanced 17% to 980,000.

“The nation’s millionaires, together with its ultra-HNW households, are bouncing back from the recession,” said George H. Walper, Jr., president of Spectrem Group. “Following a sharp decline in 2008, both groups saw their numbers advance nicely in 2009. While still well short of its all-time high of 9.2 million in 2007, this year’s growth in the millionaire population is nevertheless welcome news for an economy still working to recover.”

Spectrem also revealed that the broader affluent population, those with a net worth of $500,000 or more, grew by 12% in 2009 to 12.7 million.

Spectrem’s findings are based on surveys of 3,000 affluent households conducted in 2009, as well as an online survey of an additional 3,110 households.